Is creatine safe for women, children or the elderly?
The creatine field has principally concentrated on male subjects between the ages of 18 and 35 years, a trend that is common in the sports medicine and exercise physiology fields. Scientific studies conducted on this age group have typically demonstrated enhancements in physical performance during repeated bouts of maximal effort, particularly during later repetitions when the accumulation of lactic acid becomes appreciable. Therefore, one of the major ergogenic benefits of creatine supplementation is to lessen the buildup of lactic acid and as a result, to prolong exercise output by offsetting the oneset of muscle fatigue. Other contributions of creatine to the total ergogenic package have been discussed previously and have to do with creatine’s stockpiling effect over the cell’s anaerobic energy reserves (ATP and Phosphocreatine; (see Question #2)), muscle cell proliferation and increases in the production of contractile and metabolic (energy-producing) proteins (see Question #8). Al
